The government of Jinan, capital of east China's Shandong Province, began Saturday to offer cash rewards for information about 10 people who had been in close contact with an A/H1N1 flu patient.

Even the 10 people could receive the 2,000-yuan (293 U.S. dollars) reward if they report themselves to the local government.

In a move to encourage people to report information, a deputy director of the Jinan municipal bureau of health, Ma Jiren, handed over 2,000 yuan to a policeman working at the local police call center Saturday.

The policeman informed the government Thursday after answering a phone call from a hospital.

"We only want one thing, which is the safety of the people in close contact with patient and of the public," said Ma.

The flu case in Shandong, the second known case on the Chinese mainland, involved a 19-year-old patient surnamed Lu who arrived in Beijing from Canada May 8 flight AC029 and traveled to Jinan by train three days later.

Forty-six people on the train were considered to have close contact with Lu, among whom 36 have been found and were under medical observation while the other 10 could not be identified or reached.

Lu is in an isolation ward in the Jinan Hospital of Infectious Diseases. Medical workers said Saturday Lu is recovering.

(Xinhua News Agency May 17, 2009)